She would be grateful for his confidence in her, could she hear those thoughts. Carol isn't always so sure she isn't leaving that point of no return in the distance, but that Daryl believes she isn't would go a long way. He's not the type to believe blindly even in her, she could trust him to tell her the truth.
In terms of Rick, it isn't the sometimes conflict between them that has Carol muddling through her feelings. She may have resented the way he threw her out when he himself had similar sins in his past, but some of that was because anger was easier than mourning, and it didn't last long once the prison fell and she had business to get about. Families quarrel and that's how life is. Rather, she knows more than any of them about what Rick went back to, what would become of everyone. And she doesn't know who he'll be if she sees him again (when she sees him again, maybe; she should think positive if mostly for Daryl's sake), what he'll think of her. If maybe he'll go further in their timeline than she's been and come back with grim news, maybe Carol will have failed in getting Judith back to him. Maybe, maybe, maybe. The world has taught them to anticipate the worst.
Which is why it's so strange that she's not doing so now. Daryl's hand laced with hers somehow makes the ever-present noise of 'what-if' dim into the background. At least one thing in her immediate future seems like it might not add to the weight that's always threatening to drag her under.
Before she can think too much on it, she inches forward to close the distance between them with a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth. She pulls back because certainty would be a bit much to ask of her, and his reaction matters. It's everything.
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In terms of Rick, it isn't the sometimes conflict between them that has Carol muddling through her feelings. She may have resented the way he threw her out when he himself had similar sins in his past, but some of that was because anger was easier than mourning, and it didn't last long once the prison fell and she had business to get about. Families quarrel and that's how life is. Rather, she knows more than any of them about what Rick went back to, what would become of everyone. And she doesn't know who he'll be if she sees him again (when she sees him again, maybe; she should think positive if mostly for Daryl's sake), what he'll think of her. If maybe he'll go further in their timeline than she's been and come back with grim news, maybe Carol will have failed in getting Judith back to him. Maybe, maybe, maybe. The world has taught them to anticipate the worst.
Which is why it's so strange that she's not doing so now. Daryl's hand laced with hers somehow makes the ever-present noise of 'what-if' dim into the background. At least one thing in her immediate future seems like it might not add to the weight that's always threatening to drag her under.
Before she can think too much on it, she inches forward to close the distance between them with a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth. She pulls back because certainty would be a bit much to ask of her, and his reaction matters. It's everything.